In This World, Nothing Makes Sense
by Backstroker98
Summary: Kayla Wilmington joins the Atlanta group on the highway and is welcomed by some and not so much by others. She proves to be useful and begins to find a home amongst the group, but a certain crossbow shooting, flannel shirt wearing individual makes her heart beat just a little faster and her mind to draw a blank every time he talks to her. Daryl/OC I DO NOT OWN THE WALKING DEAD
1. New Group

As she drove down the highway with her hand hanging out the window, Kayla Wilmington was lost in thought about where she was going to go next. She's already been through several towns in the past few weeks and needed to find a place to settle down for the weeks to come. Especially with the upcoming winter right around the corner. She was also low on supplies which wasn't good so she needed to go on another run pretty soon.

As she got farther down the highway, she found herself coming up on a car backup. "Perfect…" she muttered to herself. She was able to get around it, but something caught her attention in the corner of her eye…a person. An older man wearing a fishing hat stood on top of a RV with binoculars and had Kayla's car in his sights. As she got closer, she stopped her car and got out.

"You folks need help?" she asked as she walked over.

Another person, a dark skinned man with a gap between his two front teeth and his forearm bandaged came around from the other side. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Kayla Wilmington." She introduced herself. "And who are you."

The dark skinned man looked at the man with the fishing hat who nodded. "I'm T-Dog." The dark skinned man introduced. "And that's Dale."

"Nice to meet you." Kayla said. "What are you doing stopped on the highway?"

"The rest of us are out looking for someone who got chased off by walkers."

"That's what you call those walking corpses?" Kayla questioned. "Actually now that i think about it that makes sense…"

Dale chuckled and looked down at Kayla. "What about you?" he asked. "What are you doing out this way?"

"Just going to find somewhere new to hunker down for a few weeks… I've been bouncing town to town, place to place for a while." Kayla looked at T-Dog's wrapped up arm again. "What happened?" she asked him.

"Cut it open on some metal." T-Dog answered.

"I was an EMT before the end of the world…I could check it out if you'd like me to." Kayla offered. T-Dog nodded and she walked over to him as he led her into the RV.

In the Winnebago T-Dog got out the one medical kit with some basic supplies inside of it and sat down at the table. Kayla unwrapped the gauze wraps, revealing a long, deep gash in the man's forearm. "Oh…" she gasped. "Pretty bad, huh?" T-Dog questioned.

"Well it's certainly not good…" Kayla commented. She grabbed an antiseptic wipe and wiped all the blood away before disinfecting it with some hydrogen peroxide. "You need stitches for sure and until then keep it wrapped up or you could get a blood infection…" Kayla informed T-Dog. He nodded as Kayla rewrapped his forearm in fresh bandages with a small smile on her face.

Back outside Kayla asked the men if they needed anymore help. "Well where are you heading?" Dale asked. She shrugged. "Anywhere that's safe I guess." She answered.

"Why don't you hang around?" Dale responded. "Our people will be back in a couple of hours, maybe you can stay with us, be part of our group."

Kayla lit up at the offer. She hasn't been part of a group for such a long time, let alone be around people weren't trying to kill and eat her. "Really?" she questioned. "You seem alright to me and a person with medical training may come in handy." Dale reasoned.

"I'd love to, but I don't wanna intrude…" Kayla replied.

"You wouldn't. I don't think anyone would mind. We need people." Dale assured her.

"Okay!" Kayla accepted. Dale gave her a smile and she climbed up to the roof of the RV and sat with him. "So what's your story, Dale?" Kayla questioned. "Or at least the group's story at least."

"Well it's a long story." Dale began.

"Well I don't have anywhere to be." Kayla said as she stretched her legs out in front of her. "So i got all the time in the world." Dale smiled and began the story of the group and the history of each group member. After Dale told her everything they've went through since Atlanta, she learned about Rick, Carl, and Lori and how Rick woke up from a coma and found his family outside Atlanta. It was truly an amazing story. Dale went on with each group member as well. How Andrea lost her sister a few days ago, Carol's little girl running off after the herd passed, and then he told her about Daryl's brother Merle getting handcuffed to the roof of a shopping center in the city.

It was a lot to take in for Kayla. Despite everything the people have gone through, at least they had each other through it all which Kayla didn't have the luxury of having. She's been on her own for weeks and she'd be lying if she said she didn't get lonely. So talking with Dale was definitely something of a nice change to her.

The sun began to set and the sky grew pink while Dale and Kayla remained on the roof of the RV talking while T-Dog relaxed inside. Kayla began telling him about herself after all he told her about the group. She started with how she was originally from a small town in Mississippi, but moved to Georgia with a friend after she graduated from college. They lived together and worked at a hospital together as EMTs, but were separated when shit hit the fan.

"She left town for a few days to visit her parents in Mississippi. Two days after she left the outbreak happened and I never saw her again." Kayla told Dale sadly as she thought back to her friend.

"What was her name?" Dale asked curiously

"Angela…" Kayla answered.

"Maybe you'll find her again one day."

"Maybe."

As the two continued their talk, a scream from the woods caught both their attention. They looked at the woods and then at one another. "One of yours?" Kayla asked. "Probably…" Dale said worriedly, recognizing it as a woman's scream.

Not too long later the rest of Dale's group came up the hillside sweating and panting. Dale climbed down and Kayla followed, coming up in front of Glenn, Carol, Daryl and Andrea. "Is everyone alright?" Dale asked. "I heard the scream. Where's Lori and the others?"

"Look all I know is some girl rode out of nowhere on like Zora on a horse and took Lori." Glenn explained. "And you let her?" Dale questioned Daryl.

"Climb down out of my ass old man, Rick sent her." The crossbow armed man defended walking past them. "Carl got shot and I guess they took Carl to some farm." Glenn added. "The girl told us how to get there so we gotta go now."

"I won't do it… We can't just leave." A sad voice said. Kayla turned and guessed it was Carol. "Carol, the group is split...we're scattered and weak." Glenn reminded her. "What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol replied. "If Sophia found her way back and we aren't here gone, that would be bad." Andrea agreed.

"Tomorrow we'll put a sign here, leave her some supplies. I'll stay here tonight and stay with the RV." Daryl offered. "If the RV is staying, I am too." Dale seconded. "Thank you… Carol said "I'll stay too." Andrea offered. "Well if you're all staying, then I'm…" Glenn began. "Not you Glenn, you take Carol's Cherokee and head to the farm with T-Dog." Dale said.

"Me? Why is it always me-" he started again, but was cut off again. "You have to find this farm, regroup with our people and see what's going on, but most importantly, you have to get T-Dog there. That gash has gone from bad to worse and Kayla said if it gets any worse he could get a blood infection which could be fatal. He won't make it without antibiotics or something." Dale explained. Daryl frowned and then went over to Merle's bike, grabbing and throwing Dale's oil rag at him.

"Get your oily rags of my brother's motorcycle. Why'd you wait till now to say anything? I got Merle's stash." he said, pulling a plastic bag full of pill bottles. "Crystal, Ex… don't need that… Got some kick-ass painkillers." he said throwing a bottle of pills to Glenn. "Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

"One question." Glenn said. "Who's Kayla?"

On that note, Kayla stepped out from behind Dale, exposing herself to everybody else. Daryl looked at her and took her in. She had long brown hair that fell past her shoulders and a pair of beautiful hazel eyes. Her outfit consisted of dark blue skinny jeans, a red baseball shirt with several stains on it, and some work boots. "Hi," she said her voice calm. "I'm Kayla. I bumped into Dale and T-Dog on my way down the highway."

The other group members looked over her before Glenn called out for T-Dog. "Kayla you go with them." Dale said. "If Carl was shot they're gonna need more medically trained people."

Everyone's eyes fell on her again. "You're medically trained?" Glenn asked as T-Dog came out. She nodded. "I was an EMT before all this." She explained.

"Do you have a car?" Glenn replied. Kayla nodded and pointed at the Ford Escape on the other side of the highway. "Okay follow behind me to the farm. We gotta go now." Glenn ordered before walking over to the Cherokee. Kayla said goodbye to the others and walked back to her car, climbing in and starting it up. Glenn started down the road with T-Dog in the passenger seat and Kayla followed…feeling as if she had purpose again.

So this my second attempt at a Walking Dead fan fiction and the first chapter is pretty rough, but I rewrote it a million times so just stay with me on this one alright? :)


	2. Hope

Just a head's up this will be another boring, and probably rushed chapter. I apologize, but I am just trying to get the group back together so I can really begin my story.

Kayla parked her car behind Glenn and got out, walking up with him and T-Dog. As they approached the front porch steps there were droplets of blood on them, catching the three's attention. "So do we ring the bell?" Glenn asked the other two. "It looks like people live here." T-Dog gave Glenn an "are you serious?" look. "We're past this kind of stuff aren't we?" the man questioned walking past him.

"Close the gate up the road when you came in?" a country girl's voice asked. The three turned their heads and found a girl with short brown hair in jeans and a floral top sitting in a chair. It was the girl Glenn encountered in the woods earlier.

"Uh…hi." Glenn stuttered. "Yes we closed it, the latch and everything."

"Would you mind if I checked in on the boy who was shot?" Kayla asked the girl. "I was told to come here for some extra assistance…"

"Sure come on inside." the girl answered leading them into the house. "He's in the room to the left. I'm Maggie by the way."

"Kayla."

Three followed Maggie inside and went into check on Carl first. They found Rick and Lori sitting by Carl's bed side with an older woman in the chair to the side as a white haired gentleman took Carl's blood pressure. Kayla stopped at the sight seeing the boy lay unconscious in bed with a gauze wrap taped to his side. He couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old.

Rick and Lori's eyes landed on Kayla who were confused at who she was. "Hi," she introduced herself. "I'm Kayla… I met Dale and T-Dog on the highway and heard about your boy being shot. I thought I could provide some assistance."

"You're medically trained?" Rick's tired voice asked. Kayla nodded. "I was an EMT before all of this."

"Good, I can use her." The white haired gentleman said. "I need all the hands I can get." He motioned for Kayla to come over as he took Carl's blood pressure.

"If they don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make." Hershel informed Rick and Lori as T-Dog and Glenn left the room.

"And that is?" Rick asked.

"Whether or not to operate on your boy without the respirator."

"You said that wouldn't work…"Lori reminded the white haired gentleman.

"I know, it's extremely unlikely, but we can't wait much longer."

Lori stood up and left the room, Rick following close behind.

Kayla asked the man whose name she learned was Hershel to look at Carl's gunshot wound. "The bullet was slowed down, but split into six fragments." Hershel explained as he pulled back the bandage. "I was able to get one out, but the other five are too risky to extract without the proper equipment."

Looking over the wound, Kayla saw the wound was pretty serious from the swelling in his abdomen and Hershel was right about needing the proper equipment. The fragments were too deep. "Has he woken up at all?" she asked as she checked Carl's pulse. "Once when I pulled out the fragment, but he passed out again shortly after." Hershel replied. Very carefully Kayla put her hand on Carl's bare chest, right on his sternum and began to rub it. It was a test to see if his brain functions were still responsive which apparently they were when Carl began coughing. She stood up as Rick and Lori rushed back into the room and to Carl's side. Kayla smiled at the success of the test as Carl began to talk.

"Where are we?" he asked through shallow breaths.

"That's Hershel…"Rick informed his son looking at the older gentlemen. "And Kayla." He added looking at the girl beside Hershel who gave him a smile. "We're in his house…you had an accident."

"It hurts…a lot." Carl told his dad.

"Oh baby, I know." Lori sympathized.

"You should of seen it." Carl told his mom.

"What?"

"The deer… it was so pretty mom. It was so close. I've never been so…" But Carl never finished his sentence. Kayla's heart dropped to her feet. "Carl?" Lori said quietly. He couldn't be…could he?

"What's happening?" Rick asked.

Just then Carl began to shake uncontrollably on the bed. Rick and Lori went to hold him, but Kayla and Hershel pushed them back. "It's a seizure." Kayla informed the parents. "If you hold him he could hurt something else."

"You can't stop it?" Lori questioned.

"He just has to go through with it."

Lori stood up and began crying in Rick's arms as they watched their son go through his seizure. Kayla stepped back and her heart broke at the sight of Lori and Rick.

Carl's seizure stopped moments later and he rolled onto his back. Kayla leaned over and looked in Carl's eyes. "His brain isn't getting enough blood." She informed the others. "His pressure is dropping too fast."

"He'll need another transfusion." Hershel said.

"Okay, I'm ready." Rick said.

"If I take any more out of you your body could shut down, you could go into a coma or cardiac arrest." Hershel replied.

"Take it from me then." Kayla offered. "I'm a universal blood type." Rick looked at Kayla as she looked at Hershel who quickly grabbed the blood transfusion kit and sat her down. She rolled her sleeve up a little and held her forearm out to Hershel who taped a band around her arm. He slid the needle under her skin and began to pull the blood from her veins. Once it was over Hershel gave the blood to Carl which was enough to get him by for the time being.

Kayla gave Carl another transfusion until she had to stop. "His body's losing blood faster than we can replace it." Hershel informed the three after checking the young boy's blood pressure. "And with the swelling in his abdomen we can't wait any longer or he's just going to slip away. Now I need to know right now if you want me to do this because I do think your boy is out of time."

Rick and Lori exchanged a look as Kayla stood up, feeling light headed from all the blood she's lost. "You need to make a choice." Hershel said, slightly more irritated.

"A choice?" Lori questioned.

"A choice." Rick repeated, turning to face his wife. "You have to tell me right now what it is. You have to tell me what it is."

Lori's raised a hand to her husband's face as hers cringed from tears threatening to fall. "We do it." she finally said. Rick took her in his arms and held her close as Hershel got Patricia.

"Kayla…"Rick said with despair in his voice. "What are his chances are surviving without the respirator?" Kayla gave him a saddened look, but met his blue eyes with her hazel ones. "His chances are very slim…" she answered truthfully. "People have survived it before, but most the time they haven't…"

Lori cried into Rick's shirt upon hearing this when Hershel returned with Patricia and a silver table. "Pick him up on the table with the bed sheet on three." Hershel instructed. "One, two, three!" Hershel, Rick, Kayla, and Patricia lifted Carl onto the table perfectly and prepared the area for surgery. "Rick, Lori, I suggest that you step outside for this." Hershel suggested to the couple. Before anymore words could be spoken a car engine sounded outside, catching everyone's attention. Rick went over to the window and looked out. "Oh thank God!" he said hopefully as he rushed out of the room. "You two stay here with him." Hershel told Patricia and Kayla.

The women did as they were told and waited for Hershel's return which was several moments later, but he had the respirator. "Let's begin." He said.

Again, apologies for the rushed chapter, but once the group is brought back together it will be much MUCH better :)


	3. One Less Angel

Kayla backed up from the bed after pulling the sheets over Carl's sleeping body. The surgery was a success. He was stable and going to be alright. Kayla took a cloth and wiped the sweat from Carl's head when Lori came in. She looked at Kayla with relief and then rushed over to her, wrapping her arms around the girl. "Thank you." Lori said through tears. Kayla hugged the mother back. "There's no need for a thank you." She told Lori. Lori pulled back. "There is." She told Kayla. "You helped save my boy…" Kayla gave her a smile. "I'll leave you to be with him." She said as she walked out.

From the living room Kayla could hear the sobs of a woman. Turning her head she saw Rick and Hershel comforting a crying Patricia. Just then someone came through the front door. Kayla turned and came face to face with a brown eyed man with black curly hair. "Who are you?" he asked her.

"Kayla." She introduced herself for the third time that day. "And you are?"

"Shane Walsh." The man replied. "Where's Carl?"

"Right in there. Lori's with him now. He'll be out for a while yet."

Shane nodded and walked through the doorway to Carl's room. Kayla crossed her arms when Rick came out of the kitchen and came over to her. He put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Kayla hugged him back and could smell the sweat and dirt on his clothes and skin.

Rick pulled away and looked at her in the eyes. "Kayla you said your name was?" he asked. She nodded. "Thank you, Kayla." He thanked her. She nodded and then Rick retired to Carl's bed side as Shane walked out. Kayla noticed that Shane was limping and walked over to him. "May I ask what happened?" she asked, looking at his leg.

"I uh fell from a pretty far height, landed on my feet." Shane informed her, his voice shaky.

"I can help you with that if you'd like." Kayla offered.

"I-I'm gonna get cleaned up first…"

Kayla nodded and then stepped outside onto the porch into the cool night air. She felt the exhaustion take effect as she sat down in the porch swing. She rested her head in her hand and let out a breath. Then she realized this was the first time she had the luxury of sitting down and not worrying about being eaten alive.

A half an hour later Shane stepped out onto the porch where Kayla was. She turned her head towards him and found him with a freshly shaved head. "You said you could help with my ankle?" he questioned, his voice stronger than it was before. Kayla nodded and stood up. "Let me just grab something from my car." She said as she stepped off the porch.

In her car Kayla grabbed her one bag and took it over to Shane. She set it on the porch and opened it up, revealing a couple pairs of clothes and a first aid kit. Pulling out the first aid kid, Kayla opened it up and pulled out the last of her medical tape and gauze wraps. "Sit down and take your shoe off." she instructed. Shane did as he was told and Kayla kneeled down in front of him. "It's swollen…" she informed him as she examined his ankle. She began feeling around his foot and ankle for a broken bone, but found all of the bones were intact. "It's just a minor sprain." Kayla told Shane as she reached for the gauze wrap. "All I can do I wrap it so you don't strain it anymore. You'll need to stay off of it for a day or two or at least until the swelling goes down."

"You some kind of doctor?" Shane asked.

"I was an EMT before the world went to shit." Kayla explained as she began to wrap Shane's ankle. He noticed how quickly she wrapped the gauze around his foot and ankle. "You're good at this." He commented. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile as she continued wrapping his ankle. "I've been doing this since high school." She informed him. "I spent those four years in the athletic trainer's office helping take care of injured athletes and then I made it into a full career working in an ambulance and emergency room after college. So yeah, I should be good at this." Shane smiled as she finished the gauze wrap and then moved onto the tape.

"Where'd you come from?" Shane questioned. "You weren't here earlier today."

"I was coming down the highway and bumped into your men Dale and T-Dog. Then came here to help with Carl after we found out he got shot." Kayla informed Shane as she finished the taping. "There." She said. "That's all I can do for you."

"Thank you." He said as he pulled on his sock and shoe.

"No problem." She replied putting her things away and standing up with her bag. "I suggest you lay down. Stay off that ankle."

Shane got up and went inside to lay on the couch while Kayla retook her seat on the porch swing. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes as she moved the swing back and forth with her feet. The cool night air blew in her face and hair making her… for the first time in a while…relax.

Early the next morning Kayla awoke to the warmth of blankets and a bed. Opening her eyes she saw the sun was just peaking over the horizon meaning it was only around five thirty. She got out of bed, her bare feet hitting the cold floor. Once she pulled on her socks and boots she went downstairs where Maggie was making coffee. "Wanna cup?" she asked as Kayla came in.

"Yes please."

Maggie poured the coffee into a mug and added some milk before handing it to Kayla. "Thank you." Kayla said accepting the mug. "No problem." Maggie replied.

"How's Carl?"

"Still sleeping. You can check on him if you'd like. Daddy's in there with Rick and Lori."

Kayla nodded and went to the bedroom where Rick and Lori instantly looked at her. "Good morning." She greeted as she set her mug down as Hershel looked over Carl. "Fever's gone down." he reported as the boy began to wake up. Rick and Lori stood up and went closer to his side when his eyes opened all the way. Kayla smiled. "Sophia?" the young boy asked. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Rick hesitated. "Just fine."

"Just rest. We'll be right here okay?" Lori assured her boy.

Carl agreed and then drifted off back to sleep.

Just then T-Dog walked in. "They're here." he informed the group. Lori and Rick walked around the bed and outside with Kayla who Lori remained close to.

Outside the whole group was together and Kayla's eyes landed on the one man from yesterday who gave T-Dog the medicine yesterday. She remembered his name was Daryl. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt underneath a vest with angel wings on the back which showed off his muscular arms. Kayla didn't realize she was staring at him until Lori said her name. "And Kayla and Shane." The mother said. "He wouldn't have survived not for them." Kayla looked at the group and saw Daryl looking at her. She gave him a small smile and then he looked away.

Dale asked Rick how it happened and he explained it before the old man gave the father a hug. Then Carol and Lori hugged one another. Kayla stepped to the side and turned her head to see Daryl looking her way for a second before quick turning away when her eyes landed on him.

Man I didn't realize it's been a week since I updated! Apologies! Normally I try to get a new chapter up every other day or so. Anyway next chapter will be the best on yet since the group is all together again! :)


	4. Search

Shortly after the Atlanta group's arrival at the farmhouse everyone walked out to the edge of the farm for a funeral for Otis who Kayla learned went with Shane to get the respirator, but didn't make it out. Otis was also Patricia's husband.

Hershel gave a short eulogy as the Greene's placed rocks on a pile that served as a tombstone and gravesite for Otis since there was no body. Once the eulogy was concluded, Hershel asked Shane to share Otis's last moments. "I'm not good at that, sorry." Shane apologized with watery eyes.

"Please." Patricia begged. "You were with him in his final moments. I need to know his death had meaning."

Shane looked at her and then began. "We were about done…" he began. "Almost out of ammo we were down to pistols by then. I was limping it was real bad…ankle all swollen up. We gotta save the boy. See that's what he said. He gave me his backpack he sent me ahead. Go he said. He said I'll take the rear I'll cover you. And when I looked back…" he couldn't finish that sentence. Instead he limped ahead and picked up another rock from the wheelbarrow. "If not for Otis." He tone changed. "I'd never make it out alive. And that goes for Carl, too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death had meaning…it was his." Then Shane placed the final rock on the pile.

Kayla walked back to the farm with Dale since she felt most comfortable with him. She liked T-Dog, but hasn't said much to him and he hasn't said much to her either. Glenn was a sweetheart and Kayla took an instant liking to him. Andrea seemed to be giving her unpleasant looks Kayla didn't care much for her. Rick and Lori were good people and both of them seemed to be thankful for what she'd done for Carl with Hershel. Carol didn't have much to say, but Kayla understood since her daughter was somewhere missing in the woods. But Carol seemed nice and that person to go to with any problems. Then there was Daryl. He was definitely quiet and a man of few words. His weapon of choice was obviously his crossbow and the hunter's knife on his belt when it came to the apocalypse. As she thought about him more, Kayla realized she's been observing him more than anyone else.

"Kayla can I ask you something?" Dale's voice said, breaking her thoughts.

"Of course." She said.

"Working in an emergency room did anyone ever lie about how they got there?"

"All the time." Kayla chuckled. "It wasn't everyday, but there were a few incidents where someone got injured in a really embarrassing or stupid way and didn't want to say it. Even sick people lied. This one kid came in one morning complaining about severe stomach pains so they pumped his stomach to get rid of everything and they found candles from a birthday cake. His friends dared him to eat all fifteen candles."

Dale chuckled. "Could you start to make out who was lying and wasn't?"

"Sometimes." Kayla said. "Some people would make an excuse right on the spot so they'd be all nervous and shaky. Why?"

"Something about Shane's story," Dale explained. "He just seemed nervous and shaky."

Kayla stopped. "You think he's lying about how Otis died?" she questioned.

"He's dangerous." Dale explained walking closer to her. "He is. While we were in Atlanta he had his gun aimed at Rick." This caught Kayla off guard. He didn't seem like a bad person, let alone the first to murder someone. "So you think Shane killed Otis?" she asked Dale.

"Something along the lines of that." Dale answered. "Just keep this to yourself. We have enough on our hands without throwing Shane into the mix." The man began walking again and Kayla followed, her mind reevaluating Shane.

As the group arrived back at the camp, some of the people began setting up camp while Kayla stood by the truck with Rick, Shane, Hershel, Andrea, Daryl, and Maggie discussing a plan to find Sophia. Rick couldn't go out looking with all the blood he lost and neither could Shane with his injured ankle via Hershel and Kayla's orders. Andrea had to stay behind and help with the camp, leaving Kayla and Daryl the last two to go out looking.

"I'mma head back to the creek, work my way from there." Daryl said.

"I could head North see if she wandered up this way." Kayla suggested, putting her finger at a place on the map.

"You know these woods?" Daryl asked. "Good enough to know my way around." She answered. "Alright why don't you two head out awhile while there's still some light left." Rick said. Kayla nodded and walked over to her car where she still had all of her things.

Kayla pulled out her bag where she had her supplies, or what was left of them at least and pulled out her three hunter's knives and M1911. She holstered her gun and tucked the knives on her belt as well before putting her pack together. In her pack she put in a couple packs of beef jerky, some dried fruit, and bottles of water as well as a flashlight and her first aid kit. She tied her hair up into a ponytail and put her hat on when footsteps behind her caught her attention.

Turning around she found Daryl walking up. "Here's your map." He said handing her folded up map which she accepted. "Don't go too far north. It's a pretty rocky terrain and a long hike and you don't wanna get caught out there at night." Daryl informed her.

"Thank you." Kayla said tucking the map in her back pocket. With a slight nod, Daryl turned and walked off to the woods.

Kayla took off in the woods not too long later and found herself in a familiar atmosphere. All the trees shaded her from the hot summer sun of Georgia, but it still couldn't keep the humidity away. Within twenty minutes she was sweating buckets from walking uphill and over rocks and fallen trees. It was exhausting work, but if it was the price to pay to find that lost little girl Kayla didn't care.


	5. First Time

Moving through the woods Kayla remained quiet, careful not to attract any walkers. She came across a stray one here and there which was nothing she couldn't handle. She's been on her own for what two months now? A couple of walkers posed next to no threat.

Coming up on the edge of her grid Kayla sighed. No Sophia. No sign of Carol's lost little girl. Plumping down in the grass Kayla let out an annoyed breath. If Sophia wasn't found by now, there was a good chance they weren't going to. Or at least find her alive the way she was before. As much as she wanted to think someone would find Sophia hidden up in a tree or back on the highway, Kayla couldn't because the chances of that happening were almost impossible. But there's always a chance…a slim chance.

Standing up, Kayla began walking back towards the farm. She was careful going down the ridge she climbed up and the over the rocky terrain Daryl warned her about. He was right about it though. The ground was uneven and rocky which caused Kayla to fall a couple of times. She was never that coordinated to begin with. Her knees were definitely going to be bruised and her arm had some scrapes on them she got from a lost battle with a prickerbush from earlier.

By the time she got down the ridge, Kayla leaned against a tree for a rest. She was sweating like crazy, her clothes were sticking to her skin, and she had a fresh coat of walker blood on her hands and shirt. _Lovely…_she thought to herself as the shade cooled her down a little. Staying like that for a few minutes underneath the tree and in the quiet woods was nice. But she had to move and now.

Before she could even move, something from behind grabbed her ponytail from the space between the part of the tree that separated into limbs. A low, growling noise signaled in was a walker. From the shock and surprise of the grab, Kayla dropped her knife in the leaves. "Shit…"She muttered, trying to get out of the grip the walker had on her hair. Fortunately the walker couldn't get his head through the space in the tree which meant he couldn't get his mouth on Kayla to bite her. After pulling her head out of the walker's grip she fell frontwards from the momentum and landed in the leaves. Quickly, she grabbed her knife as the walker approached her and jammed it through its skull as it bent down to get at her.

The body fell on top of Kayla with a thump. Breathing out a sigh of relief and annoyance she pushed the officially dead creature off of her. Now she was covered on blood that was originally on the walker. Standing up she brushed herself off and recollected herself before heading back.

Daryl stepped out of the abandoned farmhouse and called out Sophia's name "Sophia!" he yelled. "Sophia!" he began walking around the perimeter of the house when he came across a patch of weeds that shared an area with a small collection of Cherokee Roses. He bent down in front of them, examining them closely. Taking his knife, he cut the stems off a few of them and put them in his pocket when rustling leaves caught his attention. Standing up with his crossbow aimed at where the sound came from, he watched the woods when a figure came out of the shadows. Only this figure was alive. It was Kayla with blood covering the entire front of her. She quickly saw Daryl and widened her eyes in shock at the weapon pointed at her until he lowered it when he realized it was her. "Hi," she greeted shyly. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't sweat it." Daryl replied shouldering his crossbow.

As she walked towards him, Daryl stiffened a little. "I was heading back, what about you?" she asked.

"Same, did you find anything?" he asked as they began walking.

"Nothing." Kayla answered sadly. "What about you?"

"Found a makeshift bed in that house there." Daryl said looking at the farmhouse. "It was in the pantry, perfect size for someone like Sophia. Found an empty sardine can, too."

Kayla just nodded. Daryl looked at her in the corner of his eye. She was still dressed in her clothes from yesterday that were now coated in blood and dirt, her hair had leaves in it, and her hands were covered in blood as well. There were bags under her eyes and her skin was pale looking. Her figure was what you'd expect to look like in an apocalypse: thin, but there were still a curve here and there. She had a pretty face with her hazel eyes and long brown locks complimenting her thin face. If she looked pretty caked in dirt and blood, Daryl could only imagine how she looked clean and neat.

Daryl didn't even realize they were walking for a while until they got halfway back to the farm. "Don't talk much do you?" he asked her. She looked at him. "What do you want me to say?" she asked.

"Normally when I'm with someone they always try to start some kind of conversation. Not you though." Daryl clarified.

"Well I don't wanna annoy you. If you wanted to talk you would have said something by now."

"How do you know I wasn't waiting for you to say something?"

"How do I know if you weren't?"

Daryl smirked at this. "We're talking now." He pointed out. "So I guess you did want to start a conversation." Kayla replied.

"Mind me asking where you were before you showed up on the highway?" Daryl asked.

"Just bounced town to town, went from here to there without much thought. What about you?"

"I met the group on the highway outside Atlanta when hell broke loose."

"Dale told me about that." Kayla said. "I mean the quarry, the CDC, all that stuff."

Daryl re-gripped his crossbow. "Man likes to talk don't he?" he muttered.

"He just wanted me to know everyone." Kayla explained. The two looked at one another and smiled. That's when Daryl realized it was the first time he's smiled for a while.


	6. Take A Minute

When Daryl and Kayla reached the farm, Daryl remembered the Cherokee Roses in his pocket. He looked at Kayla as she walked and pulled one of the two out. "You know the story of Cherokee Roses?" he asked her. She turned her head towards him and saw the flower in his hands. "Yeah," she confirmed. "I read about it."

"You think it's true? That the flowers really grew where the mothers' tears fell?" Daryl questioned.

"Absolutely. It gave them hope and you can't fake hope no matter where it comes from."

Daryl handed her the flower which she gladly accepted. "Thank you." She said looking at the flower. "It's nice to know there are still beautiful things in this world."

"Do you plan on sticking around?" Daryl wondered with a bit of hope she would.

"Don't have a reason not to." She told him. "It's nice to be around people again."

The two arrived back at the camp and Daryl went into the RV while Kayla made her way to her truck only to be stopped by Lori. "I hope you don't mind, but I put your things in the tent we set up for you." The mother informed Kayla who was a taken back from the information.

"You didn't have to set up a tent for me." Kayla told Lori. I would have been fine in my car or could have set up the tent on my own."

"Oh sweetie it was the least I could do after what you did for my boy." Lori explained.

"You don't have to thank me for that. I am glad you get more time with your boy."

Lori just simply smiled and nodded before walking off.

Kayla went to where her tent which was a simple one-person grey tent. Pulling the flap open she found a small cot set up for her that had freshly cleaned clothes on top of it. She had a clean blanket and pillow on her bed and her bags off to the side. A smile stretched across her face when a female's voice caught her attention. "You can use the shower inside if you'd like." The voice offered. Turning around Kayla came face to face with Maggie.

"You sure I won't be intruding?" Kayla asked.

"Not at all." Maggie assured her.

With a smile Kayla grabbed the one pair of leggings and long sleeved shirt she slept in and walked to the farm house with Maggie. Maggie took her upstairs to the bathroom and then gave her her privacy. Once inside the bathroom Kayla let her long hair out of the ponytail and stripped out of her disgusting clothes. She tossed them to the side and then turned on the hot water in the shower, jumping in excitingly. She hasn't showered in weeks.

The hot water felt so amazing on her dirty skin and sore muscles. The water was steaming and so warm which made it all the better. She didn't want to take too long so she quickly massaged her long hair with the almond scented shampoo and conditioner before scrubbing her skin with the spa radiant body wash until it was raw. Then she shaved all the areas in need of shaving until she finally got out.

Getting out of the shower, Kayla came face to face with herself in the shower. She looked at the tattoos of birds flying up the side of her ribs in black ink. There was another on her collarbone that read out, _"For once I made my own mark on my own skin"_. That was the first tattoo she ever got. She also had one on her lower back that was an elaborate tree with no leaves on it with the roots ending on the top of her butt.

She loved all her tattoos and never once regretted getting them. She wrapped a towel around herself and went over to the sink to wash her face. Once she did she brushed her teeth and combed her hair out. It was getting too long…especially after what happened today. Opening the medicine cabinet she found a pair of scissors and began snipping her hair strand by strand.

It took about fifteen minutes, but in the end the hair that once went past her shoulders now only reached the middle of her neck. But Kayla liked it. Change wasn't always a bad thing.

Kayla let her towel drop to the floor as she pulled on her now clean underwear when she looked at her back in the mirror. Then she looked under her left eye and her upper arms. A sigh escaped her lips as she pulled on the rest of her clothes and left the bathroom to go back to the camp.

Back at the camp Lori and Carol were preparing dinner for everyone as Daryl cleaned his arrows on the log he used as a bench. He looked up for a minute as Glenn walked across his line of vision when he saw Kayla coming out of the farm house. She was dressed in clothing that made her look relaxed and her long hair was now cut short. It looked nice in the natural waves it ended in, but Daryl thought her long hair was better on her.

She came over and asked Lori of she needed help with dinner which she replied no to since she was and expected Kayla to be tired after walking around the woods all day. Glenn came over with plates and handed them to Lori. "Is everyone getting haircuts around here?" he joked, referring to her and Shane's haircuts. Kayla smiled and walked over to the log Daryl was sitting on, taking a seat next to him.

"Need a hand?" she offered.

"Sure." He answered simply, handing her a few of his bloody arrows and a damp rag. Kayla wiped off the arrowheads carefully so she didn't cut herself. She worked in silence with Daryl as he cleaned his half of the arrows, but she stole the occasional glance at him in the corner of her eye. His eyes were so blue and his hair was that messy kind of perfect. She saw him look at her and quick went back to what she was doing.

When dinner was ready Kayla remained next to Daryl and the two ate their rabbit in silence. The whole camp was silent. Everyone was bummed about not finding Sophia despite the things Daryl found at the farm house in the woods.

Daryl could see Kayla in the corner of his eye occasionally looking at him and he could see the ink of a tattoo on her collarbone as well as a scar under her left eye he hadn't noticed before. He wondered how she got it and considered asking her about it, but chose not to.

When dinner ended Carol and Glenn took care of clean up, allowing everyone to go to bed. Daryl put his now clean arrows in his quiver and went to go to bed, but saw Kayla head in another direction towards another part of the farm. Pushing his eyebrows together he put his arrows in his tent and followed after her quietly.

Daryl followed her around the house where she walked off towards a walnut tree in the yard. She sat underneath it so she was facing the sunset and leaned her head against the tree with her legs stretched out in front of her. "What're you doing?" Daryl asked as he walked up behind her.

She turned her head and met Daryl's eyes. "Taking a minute." She answered as he came over and sat down next to her. "What's that mean?" he questioned.

"Ever since I finally understood the world ended I've tried to take a minute everyday around this time to watch the sunset and remind myself it wasn't always like this." Kayla explained.

Daryl scoffed. "What?" Kayla questioned. "That world is gone. Ain't coming back anytime soon." He told her.

"I know that, but it wasn't always a world where you fought against the living dead." Kayla reminded him. He smirked as he stood up. "Don't be out her too long, don't need anyone getting eaten tonight." Was all he said before walking off. "Good night." She called out to him. He stopped. "Night." He responded.


	7. Endless

Waking up the next morning Kayla felt refreshed and recharged. It was the first good night's sleep she's had in a while. She quickly got dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a dark red flannel shirt with a tank top underneath and boots on her feet. Once she tied her hair up into a bun on the top of her head she walked out of her tent as she holstered her knives and gun in her belt.

"Morning." Dale greeted as she walked out of her tens.

"Morning." She replied.

"Want some breakfast?"

"No thanks, I'm not that hungry."

"Well Rick and the others are over there planning the search for Sophia."

Kayla looked over and saw the search group members standing around the truck. She stood up and walked over just as Jimmy, Beth's boyfriend, said he wanted to help. "Hershel's okay with that?" Rick questioned.

"Yeah he said I should ask you." Jimmy said.

"Alright then thanks."

"Nothing about what Daryl found is screaming Sophia to me." Shane interjected. "Anyone could have been held up in that farm house."

"Anyone includes her right?" Kayla replied. "Plus that farm house wasn't too far off from the highway which means she could have easily stumbled across it."

"And whoever slept in that cupboard was no more that yay high." Daryl added holding his hand up a little past his waist for a height reference. Kayla gave him a small smile which he returned.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick said.

"Maybe you might, I'm gonna borrow a horse." Daryl responded, looking at the map while Dale put the gun bag on the hood of the car. "Head up to this ridge right here, get a bird's eye view of the whole grid…if she's up there I'll spot her."

"Good idea." T-Dog said. "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too."

"Chupacabra?" Rick questioned.

"Oh you never heard that?" Dale asked. "First night at the camp Daryl tells us the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra."

Jimmy chuckled. "What you braining at jackass?" Daryl questioned annoyingly.

"So you believe in a blood sucking dog?" Rick replied.

"You believe dead people walking around?" Daryl retorted when Jimmy reached for the shotgun on the hood of the car.

"Woah, you ever fire one before?" Rick asked.

"Well if I'm going out I want one." Jimmy explained.

"People in hell want slurpees." Daryl interjected, causing Kayla to smile. The hunter then walked off to the barn to get a horse.

"Why don't you come to training tomorrow?" Shane suggested. "If you're serious I'm a certified instructor."

"For now he can come with me." Kayla offered, jerking her head to the side to motion Jimmy to come with her. "We'll search the west side grid. See if she wandered off that way."

"He's yours to babysit then." Shane told her.

Kayla rolled her eyes as Dale handed her a hatchet and extra gun before she and Jimmy walked off towards the woods. She handed Jimmy the hatchet and a knife as they walked towards the woods while she checked the ammo in her handgun.

"So what are these things exactly?" Jimmy asked nervously. "I mean I've seen them before, but Hershel just thinks their sick." Kayla looked at him. "Well I hate to burst you're bubble but these things ain't sick. They're walking corpses who want to eat the flesh from your skin." She told the teenager. "They'll never be the same and the only cure is to put a bullet through their brain."

Once in the woods, Kayla and Jimmy began focusing on looking for Sophia. "What's it like out here?" Jimmy asked her. "I mean I've been on the farm and haven't really seen a lot since the broadcasts stopped."

Kayla stopped in her tracks and turned towards him. "Jimmy the world is done…over, gone. It belongs to the dead now. Every state, city, county, town, and neighborhood is gone. Whatever the hell this plague is destroyed the world you once knew. Some people didn't last more than a day after the outbreak and were eaten alive."

"How did you make it this long?"

"Very carefully. I didn't stay in one spot for too long and made sure I always had a plan B. Anymore questions?" Jimmy shook his head. Kayla didn't mean to be mean, but this kid was already getting under her skin.

As they advanced through their grid, a familiar low growl caught Kayla's attention. She stopped in her tracks and looked around and saw the source of the noise…a walker about ten feet in front of them half hidden behind a tree. "Do we kill it?" Jimmy whispered.

"If we don't it will come back and bite us in the ass." Kayla replied. "Literally." She whistled and the walker turned around, instantly seeing her and Jimmy. It began limping towards them and Kayla looked at Jimmy. "You wanna take this one?" she asked. The teenager looked at her. "How do I do it?" her asked.

"Trauma to the brain." Kayla answered as the walker got closer. Jimmy looked at it and swallowed hard. Kayla pulled the knife from her holster and walked towards the walker. "Like this." She explained, jamming the knife through the top of the walker's skull. It stopped moving and fell to the ground dead…for real this time. "Think you could do that?" Kayla asked Jimmy. He nodded.

A few minutes later the pair came across another walker. "Like I said, trauma to the brain." Kayla whispered as she pointed to the walker standing motionlessly in front of a creek bed. Jimmy nodded once and walked up behind the walker as it turned around. It growled at the teen and Jimmy quick swung his hatchet down on the top of its skull as soon as he was close enough. The walker fell frontwards onto Jimmy causing him to fall to the ground with the corpse on top of him. "Get it off!" Jimmy panicked. Chuckling Kayla walked over and pulled the dead walker off of the kid. She helped him to his feet and then patted his shoulder. "Not bad kid." She commented. Jimmy smiled at her as she began to look around. "We reached the end of our grid." She said. "Let's get back before it starts to get dark."

Back at the camp Kayla was greeted by Dale handing her a plate of food. "You gotta be hungry by now." He said. Kayla smiled weakly and accepted the food. "You have no idea." She replied. Dale smiled and then walked back to the RV while Kayla sat down and ate her food.

"Find anything out there?" Shane asked sitting next to her.

"Not a thing." Kayla told him as she took a bite of the rabbit and beans on her plate. "What about you and Rick?"

"We didn't have any luck either." Shane answered. Kayla looked at him and noticed the front of his shirt was open, revealing his muscular upper body. She went back to her food when Andrea yelled. "Walker!" the blonde called out. "Walker!" Kayla quickly picked her head up and looked out at the field. She could vaguely see a figure walking towards the camp. "Just the one?" Rick asked Shane shot up off of his seat.

"I bet I could nail it from here." Andrea said picking her rifle up.

"No, no Andrea put the gun down." Rick ordered.

"You best let us handle this." Shane said, picking up a pick axe and walking towards the field.

"Shane hold up!" Rick said. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers."

"What for man? We got this covered."

Kayla set her food down and stood up, watching as the men run off towards the figure. She picked up a pair of binoculars and zoomed in on the figure. "Andrea don't!" Dale said. Looking over, Kayla saw Andrea laid across the RV with the gun aimed down. "Back off Dale." She responded. Kayla looked through the binoculars again and focused on the figure. At first she thought it was a walker herself until she saw the crossbow it was dragging behind itself. "Daryl?" she said to herself putting the binoculars down. "Andrea do-" was all Kayla managed to say before a shot ran through the air.

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	8. Stitches

Kayla dropped the binoculars in her hand and ran out into the field as fast as possible. Andrea and Dale were right behind her when she reached the men to find Shane and Rick hauling an unconscious Daryl over their shoulders. "Oh my God!" Andrea cried. "Oh my God is he dead?"

"Unconscious." Rick told her. "You just grazed him."

"But look at him!" Glenn gasped "What the hell happened? He's wearing ears!"

Rick pulled the ear necklace off of Daryl's neck and put it in his pocket. "Let's keep that to ourselves."  
"Guys!" T-Dog called out. "Isn't this Sophia's?"

The group turned around and saw T-Dog holding up a doll. Kayla looked at Daryl and saw all the blood he was caked in. "Rick we need to get him inside now." She said. Rick nodded and he and Shane began dragging Daryl back to the camp.

**OOOOO**

In the house Kayla was cleaning Daryl's abdomen wound where an arrow went through him as he explained where he found the doll. The second she got his shirt off and put him on his side, she was shocked to see the long scars on his back. "I found it washed up on that creek bed right there." Daryl explained, pointing to the spot on the map. Kayla instantly refocused her attention on the arrow wound and not the scars. "She must have dropped it crossing it somewhere."

"Cuts the grid almost in half." Rick said.

"Yeah you're welcome." Daryl replied looking at what Kayla was doing as she began stitching his side. She looked up at him and smiled.

"How's he looking?" Rick asked Kayla.

"He'll live." Kayla told him. "Just a minor infection some antibiotics won't cure."

"Never knew we would be going through antibiotics so quickly." Hershel retorted. "Any idea what happened to my horse?"

"You mean the one that almost killed me?" Daryl questioned. "If it's smart it left the country."

Kayla chuckled and snipped the wire to end the stitches. "We call that one Nelly." Hershel explained. "As in Nervous Nelly… I could have told you she'd throw you had you bothered to ask. It's a wonder you people have survived this long."

With that said Rick and Shane left Daryl to Kayla and Hershel. "Can you handle things here?" Hershel asked. "I have to return downstairs."

"Of course." Kayla said as she rinsed her hands off. Hershel left the room a while Kayla got another thing ready for stitches. "How's your head?" she asked Daryl.

"Wonderful." He said, rolling onto his back and closing his eyes.

"I'm gonna have to stitch that bullet wound. Try not to move so much this time."

Daryl scoffed and went back to his side. "So…" Kayla said before beginning the stitches. "I like your tattoos."

"Which ones?"

"The two demons on your back." Kayla told him as she began the stitches."They're interesting."

"How are they interesting?" Daryl asked.

"All tattoos are. They represent something."

"You got any?"

"A few." Kayla was half done with the stitches.

"What are they? A pretty butterfly on your back?" Daryl joked.

"Funny but no Dixon." Kayla replied with a slight chuckle. "I have birds on my ribs, a tree on my lower back, and a quote on my collarbone."

"Still girly." Daryl teased. "Are you gonna do my stitches or not?"

Kayla rolled her eyes and snipped the wire. "Done." She told him. "Wait you started?" Daryl asked.

"I told you not to move around and you didn't because you were distracted." Kayla explained standing up. "You didn't feel a thing."

Kayla rinsed her hands off and grabbed the bandages from the bedside table. "It's a technique we would use in the hospital when people were afraid of getting stitches. You just keep talking to them." She told Daryl as she put the bandage over his abdomen wound.

Daryl just grunted in response. "I need you to sit up so I can wrap your head." Kayla said. Daryl abided and sat up, allowing Kayla to wrap the gauze around his head. "What's the quote?" Daryl asked.

"For once I have marked my own skin." Kayla answered as she clipped the gauze wrap to hold it in place.

"What's it mean?"

Kayla stepped back. "It means you need to get some rest." She said, her mood suddenly changing. Once she collected the medical care items she left the room, leaving Daryl alone.

**OOOOO  
**

After changing clothes and cleaning herself up a bit, Kayla went in to change Carl's bandages before dinner. When she opened the door she found Lori crying by his bedside. The mother looked up and wiped her tears away. Kayla's heart dropped. "Are you okay?" she asked walking over.

"I'm fine." Lori sniffled.

"You sure?"

Lori just nodded. "I just came to put fresh bandages on Carl." Kayla told her. "Go right ahead." Lori said.

Kayla walked over and kneeled down next to Carl. She carefully removed the gauze pad from his abdomen. Then very quickly, but carefully she paced the fresh one on so Lori didn't see his bullet wound. She taped it down and then stood up. "Dinner is ready then." Kayla told Lori.

"I'll be right out."

With that Kayla walked out to the dining room.

**OOOOO**

Dinner couldn't have been quieter. The only sounds were forks and knives clanking against plates. Kayla thought it was nice to have a hot meal again that wasn't out of a can, but the sound of no one talking made it uncomfortable. Rick and Shane were at odds, Lori was upset about Carl, and Carol was still sad about Sophia. Not to mention the incident today which angered Hershel.

"Does anyone know how to play guitar?" Glenn asked attempting to break the awkwardness. Everyone stopped eating and Kayla put her face in her hand. "Dale found a cool one. Someone's gotta know how to play."

"Otis did…" Patricia said.

"I'm gonna take Daryl his dinner." Kayla said, desperate to get out of there. Standing up she saw Shane's expression change at the mention of Otis. She walked into the kitchen and made a plate to take up to Daryl.

**OOOOO**

Upstairs Daryl was awake and lying in bed when he heard footsteps coming towards his room. He pulled his blanket up just as the door opened and Kayla walked in. She closed the door quietly behind her and set the plate on the bed side table. "Brought you up some dinner." Kayla said in a quiet tone. "Must be hungrier than a wolf." Daryl smiled to himself before rolling over.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"Mind if I stay up here for a bit?" Kayla asked. "It's pretty awkward down there."

"Just be quiet I gotta headache like you wouldn't believe." Daryl replied.

"Okay."

Kayla walked around and sat in the chair next to Daryl's bed. He grabbed the plate off the bedside table and sat up to eat. Kayla just stared endlessly out the window and counted the stars like she does when she can't sleep.

"So what's going on downstairs?" Daryl's voice asked, bringing her back to reality.

"Hershel's not happy about today and everyone else is dealing with their own issues." She answered.

Another silence fell before Daryl spoke up. "What happened to your eye?" he asked. She turned her head towards him. "The scar." He clarified, pointing under his eye.

"Got a knife thrown at my face." Kayla answered with an angry tone, remembering the day she got it. "How'd you get the ones on your back?" Daryl fell silent seeing he must have hit a nerve in her. "My old man wasn't the loving father like most were." He answered. Kayla sat back. "Looks like that makes two of us." she replied, looking at the ground.

"Whadda you mean?" Daryl questioned.

"My dad hated me the second I was born." Kayla explained. "He and my mom were high school sweethearts from the start of ninth grade and got married after college. They planned on kids, but I was a bit of a surprise. During childbirth there were some complications and my mom died. My dad was so heartbroken about it he blamed me for killing my mom and took all that anger out on me. I got beat from the time I was six until I ran off after I graduated high school."

Daryl didn't know what to say. This girl had a similar background to his which no one else could really connect to or understand. Kayla dropped her head. "I'm gonna go back downstairs." She said standing up. Daryl watched her as she left and in the same fashion she entered. Now that she was gone he wanted her to come back.


	9. Peaceful

Kayla was cooking breakfast one morning when Daryl emerged from the Greene house after being bedridden for a day. She looked his way for a moment and then back at the cooking eggs and meat. He half walked half limped over to her while she remained focused on the food.

"Kayla?" Daryl's southern accent said.

"Yeah?" Kayla breathed out as she turned her head to look at him.

"I'm sorry about last night, I didn't mean make you uncomfortable..."

Kayla just smiled. "Don't worry about it Daryl." She assured him. "It's just I have spent a lot of time trying to forget about it."

"That makes two of us." Daryl replied.

"Want some breakfast?"

"Yeah." Kayla turned back to the food and plated the eggs and meat. Then she handed it to Daryl. "That's a five star meal right there." Kayla said. "Enjoy." Daryl chuckled and sat down in the one chair to eat.

Once breakfast concluded Kayla went over to Rick. "Need any more searches today?" she asked. "We're doing gun training today and Shane is heading over to a housing development this afternoon." Rick told her. "I don't want anyone going out alone anymore not after what happened with Daryl."

"Want me to go with Shane?" Kayla offered.

"I need you here. Just in case anything happens with Carl or anyone else."

"Okay."

Kayla turned to leave, but Rick stopped her. "Thank you again for everything you've done." He thanked her. "Of course." She replied. With that said Kayla walked off.

**OOOOO**

Kayla spent the first half of the morning helping Dale out with the RV engine. Glenn stopped by with beef jerky and peaches which the two happily accepted. "Thanks Glenn." Kayla said taking a bite of her peach. "No problem." He replied in a shaky tone.

"Everything alright?" Kayla asked.

"Yes." Glen answered quickly. "Why wouldn't everything be alright?"

"I was just asking."

Glenn quickly walked off and Kayla looked at Dale with a confused expression. "Is he always like that?" Kayla asked. Dale shook his head and went back to the engine with Kayla next to him.

The two were screwing a bolt into place when Lori's voice called out. "Dale!" the woman yelled. Kayla and Dale looked at one another before walking over to where Lori, Rick, and Shane stood. Kayla noticed Carl sitting on the one seat looking pretty guilty when he noticed the gun in Lori's hands. "How the hell did this happen?" she asked angrily.

"Well it's my fault." Dale said. "I let him in the RV he said he wanted a walkie, didn't you send him for one?"

"So on top of everything else he lied?" Lori questioned. Kayla looked over at Carl who was looking at the small group. "What's he thinking?" Lori questioned causing Kayla to look back at her.

"He wants to learn how to shoot." Shane interjected. "He asked me to teach him now it's none of my business, but I'm happy to do it. It's your call."

"Well I'm not comfortable with it." Lori admitted. Rick and Shane looked at one another who then looked at Kayla which Lori noticed. "Oh now don't make me out to be the unreasonable one." She said. "Kayla?" Kayla looked at Lori and shrugged. "Lori I am not trying to go against you here but Carl needs to learn how to protect himself." She told Lori.

"Look I have my concerns…" Rick said. "But-"

"No buts." Lori cut him off. "He was just shot. He is just back on his feet and he wants a gun?"

"Better than him being afraid of them. There are guns in camp for a reason he should learn to handle them safely."

"I don't want my kid running around with a gun."

"How can you defend that?" Rick questioned. "You can't let him go around without protection."

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here."

"Lori," Kayla cut in. "I know this ain't my business or my kid, but he's growin' up in a world where it is a matter of life or death. He should know how to protect himself against walkers."

"Look everything you two are saying makes perfect sense…" Lori agreed. "It feels wrong…look I didn't feel good about him following you out into the woods and I wish I had said something, I should have gone with my gut."

"He's growing up." Rick interrupted. "Thank God…we have to treat him like an adult."

"Then he needs to act like one! He's not mature enough to handle a gun."

Kayla looked over at Carl as he stood up and walked over. "I'm not gonna play with it Mom." He told Lori. "It's not a toy. I'm sorry I disappointed you…but I wanna look for Sophia and I wanna defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun."

Rick turned to face his wife while Kayla looked at Shane. "Shane's the best instructor I know." Rick told Lori. "I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl…" Lori walked over to Carl and told him to take the whole gun thing seriously which he promised he would. With that everyone went their separate ways.

Kayla walked over to Daryl's tent where he was reading a book on his cot. "Mind if I take a look at you injuries?" she asked. He looked at her. "Sure." He answered closing his book. She walked in the tent and kneeled down next to his cot. He pulled off his already unbuttoned shirt and rolled on his side, allowing Kayla to have access to his arrow wound. She pulled the bandage off carefully and examined the stitches. "You Mr. Dixon are a remarkable healer." She commented. "I think I can take these out by the end of the week. I just have to clean it up a bit. Glenn!" Kayla called out the tent. Glenn appeared seconds later at the tent. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Can you get me the first aid kit?" Kayla asked.

"No problem." Glenn replied.

Kayla turned back to Daryl. "Have you been in here all day?" she asked.

"Not like I can do anything else. Hershel said to take an easy and so did you." Daryl replied.

"As in don't go hiking miles into the woods. After I'm done we're going for a walk."

"Where?"

"You'll see."

Just then Glenn came back and gave her the first aid kit. "Thanks." She said. "No problem." He replied walking off. Kayla opened the kit and pulled out the antiseptic wipes. She cleaned the wound and the skin around it, making Daryl twitch from it stinging. Then she placed a fresh bandage on it. "Can I see your head?" she asked. Daryl rolled over to face her and she slouched a little to be level with his head. She put her hands on his head and pushed the hair put of the way to look at the wound better. She looked at the wound carefully and used a fresh antiseptic wipe to clean it off a little while Daryl watched her as she did it. "You're staring…" she said with a small smile. He blushed. "Just watching." He defended. "Watching what?" Kayla asked, not looking away from his bullet wound.

"What you're doing." He answered.

"What I'm doing is on your head…you're looking at my face."

Daryl half smiled. "You have pretty eyes." he told her. Kayla looked at him and blushed. "Thank you." She replied. "You have a nice smile."

Kayla finished up on his head and sat back. "How bout' that walk now?" she asked. Daryl nodded and pulled his shirt on, buttoning it as they walked out of his tent.

Once the two were far enough from the camp Daryl asked Kayla where they were going. She took one of his hands in hers. "You'll see when we get there." She told him, ignoring Daryl's body tense up when she held his hand even though he didn't let go of hers. She smiled and led him towards the side of the property, a smile forming on her face when he tightened the hand she was holding.

Kayla led Daryl to the side of the property where Patricia had a small field of wildflowers blooming. The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly, making it a perfect afternoon. Kayla sat down with Daryl in the grass and looked at the mountains. "It's pretty isn't it?" she asked. Daryl turned his head and looked at her. "Yeah…" he agreed. "Very." Kayla turned her head to look at him and smiled.

"Why'd you cut your hair?" Daryl asked curiously.

"Had a bad encounter with a walker in the woods while looking for Sophia…" Kayla explained. "It grabbed me by my hair…why?"

"Just wondering."

Kayla looked back at the mountains and rested her head on Daryl's shoulder. He looked at her and pushed his eyebrows together for a moment. This girl was something else. He liked her no doubt, but did he want a relationship in a world like this? He didn't really know. All he knew was in that small moment he was just sitting in a patch of wildflowers looking at the mountains with a pretty girl who had her head on his shoulder. It was normal. More importantly it was peaceful.

Hope you all liked it! Please Review! Reviews make me want to update quicker :)


	10. Hidden

Daryl woke up early the next morning just as the sun began to come up. The birds were chirping and you could hear the cicadas in the woods. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt followed by his boots before stepping out of his tent where he saw Shane and Rick talking by the one car. "Daryl!" Shane called in a whisper. "Come over here." Daryl walked over and saw Rick had an annoyed look on his face.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"Shane thinks we should ask Kayla to leave." Rick explained, obviously not agreeing.

"Why?" Daryl questioned.

"We don't know anything about this girl." Shane explained.

"Dale talked to her the first day and told me she seems fine to him. And let's not forget what she did for Carl, T-Dog, Daryl, and you too Shane." Rick reminded Shane in a firm tone.

"Rick I hear what you're saying, but we didn't ask her any questions or anything. How do we know what she told Dale was true?"

"Why would she lie?" Daryl interjected. "She's proven to be nothing but helpful since she got here and has looked for Sophia without being asked to. She did it on her own."

Shane fell silent. "She's staying." Rick declared before walking off to his tent, leaving Daryl with Shane.

"You got some nerve Shane." Daryl spat. "This girl helps the group and you want to send her out there again."

"Last thing we need is something else to go wrong." Shane growled before storming off back to his tent.

**OOOOO**

Kayla was helping Carol cook breakfast when she was approached by Rick. "Can I have a word?" he asked. "Of course." Kayla replied, excusing herself from cooking. She followed Rick over to the one car where he turned to face her. "I need to talk to you and this conversation has to stay between you and me." he said in a stern tone. "Is that clear?" Kayla nodded.

"Lori's pregnant…" Rick began. Kayla's eyes widened. "I just wanted to know if you know how to deliver the baby if it survives…"

"I know how to deliver a baby and how to do a C-Section if that's what it comes to." Kayla told him. "But in the mean time she needs plenty of rest, she can't be under a lot of stress, and she needs to have enough food for her and the baby." Rick nodded and walked over to sit down.

Later that morning the group settled down for breakfast and Daryl watched as Kayla ate her breakfast next to Dale. She was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a grey button up shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he could see the bags under her eyes which made him guess she didn't sleep well. She looked over at him and gave him a small smile before looking back at her food.

"Um guys…" Glenn's voice sounded. Kayla looked over at him and saw he had an odd expression on his face. "So the barn's full of walkers."

**OOOOO**

Kayla stood next to Daryl as Shane approached the barn. He looked through the crack of the barn door for a moment before turning around and walking towards Rick.

"You cannot tell me you're alright with this." Shane growled.

"I'm not but we're guests here this isn't our land." Rick replied.

"Oh God this is our lives here!"

"Lower your voice!" Kayla said, trying to remind them they were standing in front of a barn full of walkers.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea stated.

Shane paced for a moment and Kayla watched him with crossed arms. "We either go in there and make things right, or we just gotta go." Shane declared. "We've been talking about fort Benning for a while-"

"We can't go!" Rick cut him off.

"Why Rick, why?" Shane demanded.

"Because my daughter's still out there." Carol reminded him.

Shane put his hands over his mouth for a moment before responding. "Okay I think it's time we all start to consider the other possibility-" he began.

"Shane we're not leaving Sophia behind!" Rick snapped.

"We're close to finding this girl!" Daryl interjected stepping forward. "I just found a damn doll a few days ago!"

"That's what you found Daryl did you found a **doll**!" Shane responded.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl growled.

"Hey look I'm just saying what needs to be said here!" Shane half yelled. "Let me tell you something else man if she was alive out there and saw you all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck she would run in the other direction!" That set Daryl off and he lunged at Shane, but Rick stopped him. Almost the rest of the group had to hold off Shane and Daryl to keep them from killing one another. Kayla rushed in front of Daryl and put a hand on his chest pushing him back. "Daryl don't!" she said. "He's not worth it!" Daryl pushed her hand off of his chest and stepped back. "Don't touch me!" he growled. Kayla looked at him for a moment in slight shock before turning around to see Shane walking off and Rick telling him he'd talk to Hershel.

"_**What're you gonna figure out**_!" Shane yelled.

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, i have to talk him into it! This is his land!" Rick half yelled.

"Hershel sees those things in their as people." Dale intervened. "Sick people. His wife, his stepson are in that barn."

"You knew?" Rick questioned as Kayla walked over to Dale. "Yesterday I talked to Hershel." The white haired old man told Rick. "And you waited the night?" Shane growled walking closer, but Kayla stepped out in front of Dale protectively. "Back off Shane!" she hissed. He shook his head and turned around, walking back to where he was before.

"Man Hershel is crazy if he thinks those things are people!" Shane almost screamed, but the sound of the walkers pounding on the barn door made everyone stop.

Once everything calmed down, Shane stayed at the barn on guard while the others returned to camp. Kayla helped Dale around the camp while Daryl went off on his own somewhere on the farm.

"Hey Dale?" Kayla asked as she collected the dishes from around the fire from breakfast. "Yeah?" he replied.

"I've been thinking about what you said about Shane after Otis's funeral…how you thought Shane killed him…" Kayla started. Dale looked at her. "I think you're right…" she admitted looking at her hands. "I mean I didn't see it before because You guys had just accepted me as part as your group and I didn't want to think that, but now…" she trailed off. Dale walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay I understand, but now you know he is dangerous." Dale said. Kayla nodded. "I need you to steer clear of him then. For your own sake." Dale told her. She nodded again.

"I have to take care of something right now, but would you mind finish cleaning up around here?" Dale asked.

"Not at all." Kayla assured him.

With that said Dale walked over to the RV and Kayla continued to clean up around the camp until it was nice and neat. She saw Lori walk over to her with a pained expression. "Kayla?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Kayla replied.

"Rick told me he told you about…the baby…" Lori began. "And I just wanted to thank you about keeping it to yourself…"

"It's not a problem. Doctor/patient confidentiality." Lori chuckled. "And there was something else I wanted to ask you…" she said. "Anything." Kayla replied.

"When I had Carl I needed a C-Section because he couldn't…fit through…what are the chances of that happening again?"

Kayla shifted her weight onto her other leg and let out a breath. "I'm an expert in that field, I was only an EMT like I said so I was either in an ambulance or ER, but it depends on the size of the baby." She answered honestly. "And you know how to do one?" Lori questioned. Kayla nodded.

"Okay that's all I wanted to know." Lori replied walking off.

Sorry for the long wait, I was out of state on a family trip and I didn't have wifi for a while. So here's the next chapter! Next one should be up soon!


	11. Finally Found

Kayla was doing her chores she was assigned which consisted of laundry, doing dishes, and doing supply checks. Right now she was hanging up clothes to dry when she was approached by Andrea. "Okay I didn't want to sound like a bitch the second you got here, but I think I've been quiet long enough." The blonde said in a firm tone. "Excuse me?" Kayla questioned, turning towards her after hanging up one of Rick's shirts. "You have everybody here wrapped around your finger but not me. And not Shane." Andrea barked.

"Whoa, whoa, who what are you talking about?" Kayla asked, her tone getting a little sterner.

"You help save Carl's life and then given a permanent spot here. I just think it's a little odd we don't know anything about you and you just make yourself at home here."

"Andrea I never asked to stay, I was offered to. And I have been on my own since all this so the idea of being around other people sounded nice to me."

"What have you done to prove yourself?" Andrea questioned.

"For one I helped save Carl. And I helped looking for Sophia and helped Daryl after you shot him by the way trying to prove something." Kayla growled.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You keep trying to prove something to the people here. Like you can do anything and you nearly killed Daryl in that attempt."

"I was trying to protect the camp." Andrea defended.

"After Rick told you not to shoot and said he and the others would deal with it."

Andrea fell silent. "Exactly." Kayla said in a steady tone. Then all the sudden Andrea hit Kayla across the face. She stumbled back a couple of steps and put her hand on her mouth where Andrea hit her. "Not only do you act like a bitch." Kayla said. "You hit like one too." Andrea lunged at her, but Kayla managed to get a hit across her face. Andrea stumbled back, but lunged at her again and tackled her into the dirt. Kayla managed to grab her forearms and hold her off from hitting her. Unfortunately Andrea got another hit in across her face, but Kayla did as well before someone pulled the crazed blonde off of her. It was Rick. Then a pair of strong arms lifted Kayla up off the ground. It was Daryl.

"What the hell is going on?" Rick demanded, keeping his hold on Andrea

"Ask her!" Kayla said, Daryl still holding her by the arms. Rick turned towards Andrea. "Well?" he questioned. Andrea's face went blank. "She pissed me off." she explained.

"You started it!" Kayla snapped. Andrea went to go at Kayla again and Kayla went to meet her halfway, but Rick grabbed Andrea and Daryl grabbed Kayla again. "Both of you calm down!" Rick snapped. Kayla relaxed, but Daryl's grip remained on her.

"This is the _last_ thing I need to be dealing with right now. You come with me," Rick said looking at Andrea. "And you go with Daryl somewhere. The two of you stay away from one another in the time being." With that said, Rick turned and walked towards the cars with Andrea behind him. Daryl released Kayla and looked at her. He gently put his hand under her chin and turned her head to look at him. "Yer bleedin'." He said noticing her lip and the side of her cheek.

"I'm fine…" Kayla assured him, wiping the blood from her mouth.

"Come on." He said jerking his head to the side. "Let me clean ya up."

"Daryl…"

"Kayla," he cut her off. "Come on."

She let out a breath and followed him to the RV where he sat her down and pulled out the first aid kit. He crouched down in front of her with an antiseptic wipe and cleaned the blood off. "Ouch!" she sounded. Daryl stopped and looked at her in worry. She chuckled. "Sorry I never get to do that." She said. "I'm always the one doing the doctor thing." Daryl half smiled and finished cleaning the cuts and then put bandage on her cheek that was turning a shade of purple and putting a disinfectant on her lip. "Wanna tell me what happened?" he asked her putting the things away.

"Just an argument that she made physical." Kayla huffed as she looked at the ground. Daryl smirked. "Who won?" he asked. Kayla shot him a look before letting out a chuckle. "It was a tie." She declared. Daryl put the kit away and offered her his hand. She accepted it and stood up. "Thank you." She said. "No problem." He said. "When do I get these damn stitches out?"

"A few more days." Kayla told him. He nodded and the two stepped out of the RV, Daryl heading off somewhere while Kayla leaned against the RV. She saw Shane say something to Carl before the boy walked off to his mother. Then Shane stormed over towards the RV. "You know where Dale went?" he asked sternly. Kayla shook her head. "Said he had to go do something a little bit ago." She told him walking over.

"That what he said?" Shane questioned.

"Yeah…why?" Kayla asked. Before he said anything he stormed off towards the woods.

"Hey!" he heard Glenn call out. She turned and saw him looking at Maggie. "Kayla can you take watch for a minute?" he asked. "Of course." She said. He hopped off the roof of the RV as she climbed up and picked the rifle up. Then she watched as Glenn chased after Maggie as she sat down. "Ah love is in the air." She let out leaning back.

As she kept watch she saw Shane return a few minutes later with the bag of guns Rick kept in the RV that were only supposed to be brought out for searching for Sophia. She quickly set the rifle down on the roof and hopped down, rushing towards Shane.

"Where the hell is Dale?" she asked worriedly.

"He's fine." Shane told her. "You wanna earn your keep?" Shane questioned handing her a shotgun. She accepted the gun and pushed her eyebrows together as he walked off. She followed behind him and asked what was going on. He didn't say anything as they approached the group at the front of the house.

Daryl approached Shane and Kayla as they walked towards the house, a gun in each of their hands. He saw Kayla had a confused expression on her face as Shane pulled out a shotgun. "You with me man?" the former police officer asked. Daryl accepted the shotgun and walked alongside Kayla behind Shane.

"You got yours?" Shane asked Andrea who had a purple mark on her cheekbone that was slightly swollen. "Yeah." She answered. "What's all this? Where's Dale?"

"He's coming." Shane told her. "Look it was one thing standing around picking daises when we thought this place was supposed to be safe but now we know it ain't! What about you, you gonna protect what's yours?" Shane held a shotgun out to Glenn who recluantly accepted it. "What about you?" Shane asked Maggie. "Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop?" Maggie said firmly. "If you do this, if you hand out these guns my dad will make you leave tonight."

"We have to stay, Shane." Carl stepped in, looking at him from the top of the stairs.

"What is this?" Lori questioned as she walked over.

"We ain't going nowhere…" Shane began. "Now Hershel he's just gonna have to understand. He's gonna have to. Now we have to find Sophia am I right?" He walked over to Carl and handed him a small gun. "Now I want you to take this and keep your mother safe. Do whatever you can, you know how to…"

Lori stepped in and pushed Carl behind her. "Rick said no guns." She barked. "This is not your call! This is not your decision to make!"

"Oh shit!" T-Dog said. The group turned and looked where he was and saw Rick and Hershel pulling two walkers onto the property like dogs.

Shane took off in a full off sprint with the rest of the group behind him. She was able to keep up with him but barely as the others ran down to the barn with them. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Shane screamed as the group reached them.

"Shane just back off!" Rick demanded as he struggled to keep his hold on his walker.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel question as he noticed the entire Atlanta group had a firearm.

"Are you kidding me!?" Shane yelled as he circled Rick and Hershel. "You see? You see what they're holding onto?"

"I see who I'm holding onto!" Hershel yelled back.

"No man you don't!"

"Shane just let me do this then we can talk!" Rick said.

"What you wanna talk about Rick?" Shane questioned. "These things ain't sick, they're not people, they're dead! They ain't gonna feel nothing because all they do is KILL! These things right here! They're the things that killed Amy! They're the things that killed Otis! They're gonna kill all of us if we don't do something!"

The whole time Shane talked, Kayla and Daryl had their guns on the walkers that Hershel and Rick were holding onto as they thrashed around for Shane or another living person.

"Shane back off!" Rick ordered.

"Hershel man let me ask you something. Could a living, breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane asked the old man before firing three bullets into the walker Hershel was holding onto. "Shane stop this!" Rick bellowed.

"That's three rounds in the chest! Why's it still coming?!" Shane yelled before firing two more rounds into the walker. "That's it heart, its lungs! Why's it still coming?!"

"SHANE ENOUGH!" Rick screamed.

"You know man you right. That is enough." Shane agreed, walking up to the walker he was shooting and sending a bullet through its skull.  
"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's GONE! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us! ENOUGH! Rick it ain't like it was before!" Shane declared, giving him an all serious look. "Now if y'all wanna live, y'all wanna survive, then you gotta fight for it. And I'm talking about fighting for it. Right here, right now!" Then Shane ran up to the barn doors and smashed the locks open. "Shane don't!" Kayla yelled to him. But he continued to smash at the locks and then bang on the doors, backing up back to the group as the walkers pushed the doors open and stumbled out.

Kayla turned her gun to the walkers and began shooting at them as Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Daryl, and Shane did. She didn't want to after seeing the Greene family's reaction and she hated to agree with him, but Shane had a point. The Greene's needed to understand that these things were dangerous. So she continued shooting the walkers until no more spilled out.

The gunfire stopped and so did the flow of walkers from the barn. Shane turned and looked at the Greene's to see Jimmy holding a sobbing Beth and Maggie standing next to her father. Then the sound of growling caught everyone's attention and everyone turned to look at the barn. Kayla raised her rifle up again just as a young girl walker with short hair and a blue shirt came out. She instantly dropped her gun. It was just a kid… Then she heard Carol's cries. "Sophia!" the mother cried and that's when Kayla found out who Sophia was. What she looked like and where's she been all this time…right next to the group the entire time. Everyone dropped their guns as Sophia walked towards the group, snarling and growling. Rick stepped forward and raised his gun as she approached. Kayla saw Rick's struggle and tears fill his eyes before he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet through Sophia's head.

Sorry for the long wait, but here's an extra-long chapter for everyone :)


	12. Aftermath

It was silent. All that could be heard were Carol's sobs as Daryl picked her up off the ground. Kayla remained glued to her spot with her gun on the ground by her feet. She couldn't stop tears from filling her eyes. A little girl she never knew who was no older than twelve years old had to die like that.

"Don't look!" Daryl's gruff voice said, breaking Kayla from her thoughts. "Don't look!" he repeated as Carol tore herself away from him and took off running. "Carol!" Kayla called out as she ran after her. She chased the crying woman all the way to the edge of the woods where a small shack was and Carol fell to her knees altogether. Kayla came to a stop and kneeled down next to her. Kayla put a hand on her back as she cried. "My little girl…" she muffled through the sobs. "My little Sophia…" Kayla rubbed Carol's back in an attempt to calm her down. She's gotten to the point where she was almost numb to the sight of people's reactions after a loved one had died. That's what happened when you worked in a hospital. But her heart still broke a little every time.

A few minutes past until Kayla looked out at the woods. All that gunfire had to have had attracted some attention to the farm. How could it not? "Carol…" she began. "We can't stay here. We have to go back to the camp." Carol just continued to sob. "Carol…" Kayla repeated. "We have to get back to the camp." This time Carol nodded and Kaya helped her to her feet. She then put an arm across her shoulders and led her back to the RV where Carol just sat at the table and stared vacantly out the window.

Kayla went back outside where she bumped into Daryl by accident. "Sorry." She said to him. He looked at her and saw the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "You alright?" he asked her. She looked at him and shook her head. "I've seen kids die before." She told Daryl. "Hell I was the one trying to save em' while they were on my table. But this one I couldn't save… I couldn't even make an attempt to because she was right there the whole time. Not lost in the woods, but right next to us the whole time." Daryl gave her a long look before she walked off to the barn. His face fell before he stepped into the RV.

Kayla helped dig the graves for Sophia, Annette, and Sean and a short service was held that Carol didn't attend much to Kayla and Daryl's disappointment. But Daryl was angry about it, but Kayla just let the woman grieve. She knew she would come around eventually one way or another. Kayla kept replaying Carol's words in her head though. _"That's not my little girl. That's some other thing. My little girl was alone in the woods. All this time I thought…she never went hungry. She never cried to herself to sleep. Sophia died a long time ago." _They were the words of a true broken and bent heart and woman. 

After the service Andrea, T-Dog, and Shane began collecting the bodies of the dead walkers and Kayla was about to help when she saw Daryl packing up his tent. Curious and confused she walked over to him as he folded up his tent.

"Goin' somewhere?" Kayla asked as she approached him. He looked over her and scoffed before returning to packing his things away. "Away from you people." He answered. "Need my damn space."

"So you're just gonna leave?" Kayla questioned.

"I'm just moving up to the edge of the field. This group's broken." Daryl informed her as he shouldered his bag and crossbow. She crossed her arms. "What?" he asked. She just shook her head.

"Nothing." She told him with a shake of her head. "Just don't leave."

"What makes you think I'd do that? And why would you care?" he questioned.

"You just seem unpredictable. And I don't wanna see you walk away."

"I've had people walk away from me. So what if it's the other way for once."

"And being walked away from sucks." Kayla replied coldly.

"I didn't ask for your opinion girly." Daryl snapped. "So why don't you run a long and go do something useful with your time instead of nosing around in my business?" Kayla shook her head as she stepped backwards and then turned around to go help the others. She didn't need this. Not now…after everything that happened.

**OOOOO**

Kayla loaded the last body into the back of the truck when a frantic Glenn came running from the house. "Kayla!" he called out. Kayla looked over and saw Glenn sprinting over. She rushed towards him and met him at the fence where she saw the scared look on Glen's face. "Beth collapsed." The Korean her. "I need your help."

"Where's Hershel?" Kayla asked curiously, figuring he'd go to him first.

"We can't find him anywhere and I need your help now." Glenn explained with a shaky tone.

"Okay, okay settle down I'm coming."

Kayla and Glenn rushed back up to the house and up to a bedroom where Beth was laid down with Maggie by her side. Beth's skin was pale and she had a vacant stare in her eyes. "What's wrong with her?" Maggie asked worriedly. Kayla put her hand on the side of Beth's face and checked her pulse. "She's in catatonic shock." Kayla reported. "She needs fluids and a cold towel."

"Is she gonna be alright?" Maggie asked through a few tears. Kayla turned towards Maggie and took her hands in hers. "Maggie she's gonna be alright, okay? I know you're scared you have every reason to be, but I need an IV for her." Kayla said calmly as possible. Maggie nodded and took off downstairs. "I'm going to get Rick." Glenn told her as he left the room.

Maggie returned several minutes later with the IV and Kayla hooked Beth up to it just as Rick, Shane, and Lori came in. "What's wrong with her?" Lori asked.

"She's in shock." Kayla told her.

"Why isn't she moving?" Maggie asked.

"It's catatonic shock." Kayla explained. "She has lost motor mobility and the ability to respond to anything. It's a neurological kind of shock instead of a more physical kind."

"Is she gonna die?" Maggie cried as Glenn put an arm around her shoulder.

This was the part that Kayla dreaded the most. "She's does have a fever and her pulse is up." Kayla informed the farmer's daughter. "Normally that's a good sign…catatonic shock can be fatal unless treated properly."

"Where's Hershel?" Rick asked.

"We can't find him anywhere." Glenn answered.

"Ay Rick you might wanna see this." Shane called from the hallway. Rick and the rest walked out of the room and into Hershel's while Kayla remained with Beth when Patricia and Jimmy walked in.

"Is there anything we can do?" Patricia offered. Kayla shook her head. "She'll be unresponsive for hours, maybe days…it's hard to tell with shock victims." Jimmy took his hat off and sat down next to Beth. Kayla walked over to him and took his hand and placed it in Beth's. "Don't you dare leave her side, you hear me?" she said to Jimmy nicely, but in all seriousness. He nodded. Just then Kayla heard footsteps walking down the hall and Lori and Rick arguing. She stepped out and found Lori telling Rick not to leave and go after Hershel.

"We have Kayla looking out for Beth right now… you can't leave and solve everyone else's problems." Lori told Rick in a harsh tone.

"I'm not arguing. We need Hershel and so do his daughters and family." Rick replied coldly before walking off down the hall. With that, Kayla went back to Beth's side.

Sorry for such a long wait, but school is school. :/ Please review and I will try to review ASAP


	13. Every Word

Sorry for the long wait everyone! But high school comes with A LOT of work. But I have a holiday break coming up so my updates should be quicker! Anyway here is chapter thirteen!

**OOOOO**

Kayla was sitting on the couch in The Greene's living room biting her nails. Beth was stable, but Rick and Glenn had yet to return from going to get Hershel. Night had fallen and the group was gathered inside for dinner, but Kayla's nerves were too high to think about food. And even though she got along with everyone with the exception of Andrea and Shane, she missed Daryl's presence. He was the only member of the group who could understand her and her past.

As she stared out the window, someone put a hand on her shoulder which caused her to jump. "Relax." A familiar southern voice said. "It's only me." Kayla gave Maggie and smile and looked at her. "Dinner is just about ready… I need your help bringing dishes out." Maggie told her. Kayla nodded and stood up, following Maggie to the kitchen.

She helped bring the food out as the rest of the group got seated at the table, including Shane. Kayla looked at him coldly for a moment before putting some food on Carl's plate. Yes she helped shoot the walkers at the barn and yes she thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but now that she had time to reflect on it she knew there was a better solution. Shooting up the Greene's family and friends right in front of them wasn't the right way to go about it.

"Kayla…" A male's voice said. She turned and found Dale resting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked. She smiled. "Just have a lot on my mind." She told him. "Well relax for right now." He replied.

With that said everyone sat down and Kayla sat next to Carl at the table. "You better eat every bite of those vegetables." She teased. He chuckled. "You sound like my mom." He told her.

"Speaking of your mom where is she?" Kayla asked looking around. "Lori! Dinner!" Carol called to the other room.

"She's not in there." Maggie informed Carol.

"Where is she?" Dale questioned.

Everyone looked around at one another for a moment in the fallen silence. "Carl when was the last time you saw your mom?" Shane asked.

"This afternoon." Carl answered.

"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl." Andrea spoke up.

"She went after him?" Dale questioned.

"She didn't say that."

"Nobody panic, she's gotta be around here somewhere." Shane said standing up and heading outside, the rest of the group following.

Kayla got outside and was hit by the cool night air. She saw Shane head towards the camp with Carl in tow and then noticed a flickering light at the edge of the farm. It must have been a fire Daryl made. "I'll go see if Daryl's seen her!" she called out rushing off towards his camp.

**OOOOO**

Daryl poked at his fire and trying to get a bigger flame when he heard approaching footsteps. He rolled his eyes knowing he was about to be pestered by one of the group members, but was actually a little relieved when he heard whose voice it was. "Daryl!" she said approaching. "We can't find Lori anywhere… And the others aren't back yet." Daryl turned to look at her and noticed her tired eyes even in the dark. He scoffed and turned back towards the fire. "Dumb bitch must of gone off looking for em'." He told her.

"What?" Kayla questioned.

"She asked me to go, told her I was done being an errand boy." Daryl explained.

"And you didn't say anything?"

When he didn't reply Daryl listened as she turned and began walking away, but then stopped and came back.

"Don't do this." She said. "Don't push everyone away." Daryl looked back at her.

"What do you care?" he questioned in an angry tone as he stood up.

"Because you are the first group of actual people I have come across. And you are too good a person to just walk away."

Daryl turned to leave and began walking, but stopped when he heard her talking again. "You may not think it, let alone believe it but…you are." After she said that he heard her footsteps that signaled she was walking away from his camp.

**OOOOO**

Back down at the camp everyone was standing around when Kayla returned to them completely out of breath. "She asked Daryl to go after them." She said. "She must have gone on her own." Hearing this, Carl began to cry. Andrea tried to comfort him, but he walked away. "Did you know about this?" shane questioned Dale.

"No." Dale answered truthfully.

"Look did she, did she take a gun?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't have let her gone on her own out there!" Dale called out to Shane as he walked over to his car and got in, driving away quickly.

It was a while before Shane returned with Lori. But when he did, everyone rushed over and found her with a bleeding head and lip. "Oh my God what happened?" Andrea asked rushing over.

"I'm fine I was in a car accident…" she explained as Kayla came over and looked at her wounds. "I'm fine." Lori assured her. "Where's Rick?"

Everyone looked at her in shock and confusion. She looked at them and noticed the fallen silence and confusion. "They're not back?" she asked. Kayla shook her head once.

"Where are they?" Lori asked Shane in a pissed off tone.

"Look I had to get you back here." Shane defended.

"You asshole." Lori snapped as she walked over to him and pushed him against the car. Kayla pulled Lori away as Shane told her he'd go after them and find them. "Look first thing's first I had to look out for you I had to make sure the baby was safe." Right after Shane said that you could hear a pin drop. Kayla looked at him in absolute shock when Carl made an appearance. "You're having a baby?" he asked. Everyone looked at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Lori didn't know what to say and everyone was quiet until Carl walked away. "Let's make sure you're alright." Dale eventually said, breaking the tension.

Kayla, Dale, and Andrea all took Lori inside where Kayla cleaned her up. She cleaned and bandaged the wounds before checking her to see if she had a concussion.

"I don't think you have a concussion." Kayla reported as she stood up. "Just take an easy for a few days."

"Thank you." Lori said as Kayla packed up all the medical supplies.

"You're welcome." Kayla replied walking into the kitchen to return the medical kit to Maggie.

"How is she?" Maggie asked.

"Just a couple of scratches, nothing serious." Kayla answered as she leaned against the counter.

"You alright?" Maggie asked her.

Kayla looked at her. "What mother just takes off in the middle of everything that happened today without telling anyone including her son?" she questioned. "Who does that?"

Maggie shook her head. "She thought her morals were good, but it was wrong." She agreed standing next to her. "But what's done is done." Kayla looked at her for a moment and nodded once before heading back out to the camp to get some sleep.

**OOOOO**

The next morning Kayla dressed in a pair of dark skinny jeans and black and white flannel before helping the others load up the car. Daryl, T-Dog, Shane, and Andrea were going off to look for Rick, Glenn, and Hershel. "You sure you don't want me to come?" Kayla asked Shane.

"Nah I need you here." Shane told her. "Keep things organized until we get back. Plus if anything happens out there we'll need someone to fix us up." Kayla nodded as she loaded a bag when Daryl came over and loaded another bag in. She wasn't surprised he was going like the others were because like she told him last night, he was a good person.

The group was just about to leave when a car came driving in…Hershel's car. Everyone watched as it pulled up in front of the house and Rick, Glenn, and Hershel stepped out. Carl ran to his father and Maggie rushed over to Glenn, wrapping her arm around him. Hershel, surprised and hurt by this walked up to the house. "Patricia prepare the shed for surgery." Was all he said.

Kayla stood off to the side when T-Dog's voice sounded. "Who the hell is that?" he questioned, pointing at the backseat of the car.

"That's Randall." Glenn answered. Everyone looked at the backseat and approached it, Kayla taking the lead. She opened the door and saw his bleeding calf. "Oh my God!" she said. "What happened to him?"

"Fell off a roof, his leg went through a fence." Rick answered. Kayla helped Randall out of the car with the help of Daryl. He was half conscious and blindfolded. "I'll get him too Hershel and help with the surgery." Kayla told Rick as she and Daryl helped him to the shed.

In the shed they laid Randall down on the table and took the blindfold off. "Thank you Daryl." Kayla said as she rolled his pant leg up to examine the wound. "Yeah no problem." He said, looking at the kid's leg. Hershel and Patricia came in with medical supplies and a bowl of water along with some towels.

Daryl left her and the other to their work, but took a second look through the crack in the door. He watched as Hershel hooked up the IV and Patricia gave him a sedative to put him to sleep. Then finally Kayla began cleaning the wound very carefully. Daryl noticed her expression on her face that was mixed with sadness, hope, and even a bit of happiness. She really did like helping people…

**OOOOO**

It was about an hour until Hershel, and Kayla joined the others in the house. Kayla had blood on her hands and part of her forearms as well as a little on her face. Everyone's eyes fell on her and Hershel. "We repaired his calf muscle as best as we could, but he'll have nerve damage." Kayla informed them. "He won't be on his feet for at least a week."

"When he is we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, and end him on his way." Rick declared.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him to the walkers?" Andrea questioned as Daryl walked in. Kayla looked at him and he looked at her, nodding once. She gave him a small smile as he leaned against the wall with his arm crossed.

For the next two minute Shane and Rick argued about Randall until Shane had enough. "You know what I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." He said walking out of the room. "Look at this folks, we back in fantasy land!"

"You know we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet?" Hershel reminded him in an angry tone. Shane turned around to look at him with an odd expression on his face. "Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all." Hershel said. "This is my farm. Now I wanted you gone, but Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut." Shane left the house after that and Rick put a hand on Hershel's shoulder.

"Look we're not gonna do anything about it today." Rick told the veterinarian. "Let's just cool off."

After the meeting Kayla went to clean up. She went to the water pump outside because Maggie was talking to Glenn inside. She began pumping the water when a familiar voice sounded. "Does the kid have any blood left?" Daryl questioned as he walked over. She looked over at him and smiled.

"He sure did mess up his calf." She told him getting her hands wet to get all the blood off. Daryl walked over and pulled a red rag out of his back pocket. "Here." he said as he stood in front of her and held his hands out. She put her hand out and he wiped the blood from them carefully and then cleaned the blood from her forearm.

Kayla watched Daryl as he cleaned all the blood away until her skin was clean. He washed the rag off and then looked at her face. "How the hell did you get it on your face?" he questioned, wiping it off and meeting her eyes. She chuckled. "Sometimes blood squirts." She explained. Daryl cleaned the blood from her face and then helped her up.

"Thanks." She said to him, drying her hands on her pants and walking off.

"Did you mean what you said?" he asked as she walked off. "Last night."

She turned to him and smiled. "Every word."


	14. In Case I Die Tomorrow

For the next week and a half, things were uneventful. Randall was almost completely healed and the group was able to get back into their routine of things. Daryl even came back to the camp after a few days to Kayla's happiness. She liked having him around again and he seemed to enjoy her company too. Even if they didn't talk, the comfortable silence was enough for the both of them. She's also grown closer to Maggie as well, talking with one another and taking walk around the farm with one another.

One morning after breakfast Rick made an announcement that they needed to go on a run for supplies. "We're running low on medical things and ammunition." He explained.

"There's a small department store not too far from where Maggie and I went." Glenn offered.

"No you've done enough runs Glenn." Rick replied. "Let someone else take this one."

"I'll go." Daryl volunteered.

"I'll come with you." Kayla spoke up. Rick's eyes landed on her. "Kayla I need you here." he told her.

"Come on Rick I haven't left the farm in so long." Kayla reminded Rick. "Let me go with Daryl. It' not too far and I'm pretty sure I've been out there on my own before…I know how to handle myself."

After a few seconds Rick agreed. "Alright, I'll get a list together of the things we need. Be ready to go later." he told the two.

Kayla excused herself to her tent where she got her things together. She loaded her gun and holstered it on her hip as well as he one and only knife. Then put extra ammo in her pockets and pack before walking back out to the group. She saw Daryl prepping his crossbow with extra arrows and then pulling his angel wing vest on. Kayla loved that vest. There was something about it that made it appeal to her. Daryl stood up and caught her looking at him and she quickly looked away. Her cheeks were red from embarrassment as she pretended to button the button on the bottom of her shirt.

About a half an hour later Rick came to Kayla with a list. She accepted it and read through it. "Band aids, toothpaste, tampons, canned food, knives…" she read. "Just the average apocalypse's grocery list." Rick let out a soft laugh and then told her to be careful. "I need the two of you back here alive." He said.

"We'll be back before you know it." Kayla assured him with a smile.

Rick nodded and then walked over to his family and Kayla went over to Daryl as she scanned through the list. "You know we can probably fit this stuff into a couple of backpacks." She told him. "We could take your bike, save fuel." He looked at her as he shouldered his crossbow. "Sounds like a plan." He agreed. "I'll bring it around." Daryl walked off and Kayla grabbed one of the bigger sized back packs from the one seat and put it on her back. Just then Daryl drove up on his motorcycle and motioned for her to get on. She walked over and swung her leg over the seat, then fastening her arms around Daryl's torso. Once she was on, Daryl took off down the dirt road towards town.

The drive was quiet and Kayla had a mile on her face being this close to Daryl. She could smell the scent of cigarette smoke and earthy scent that lingered on him. She rested the side of her face on his back and enjoyed the moment, because moments like those didn't happen often.

When they reached the department store, it looked abandoned. There were dusty, empty cars outside and trash scattered about. "The store isn't that big." Daryl said after parking his bike and turning it off. "Let's sweep through it together and then look for everything we have to get."

"Sounds good." Kayla agreed as she pulled her gun out of her holster and switched the safety off.

The pair walked into the store that was dimly lit and walked down each of the aisles, finding only three walkers altogether. "You take half the list and I'll take the other half." Kayla said tearing the list right down the middle. Daryl took his half of the list and to the aisle where he would find the things on his list. And of course he got the half with tampons on it.

Kayla traveled down the aisles with her knife, not wanting to waste ammo on one walker if one showed up and threw boxes of band aids and disinfectants into her pack, making sure everything was organized so she had enough for everything. She checked things off and then went over to the clothes. Even though it wasn't on the list, she wanted to pick something up for Carl. She searched through the racks of clothes and found a couple of long sleeves that were his size. She tucked them away and then went back to finding things that were on the list.

Daryl and Kayla both found all the thing on their lists and had pack full of supplies. "Kayla?" Daryl called out. "Yeah?" called back.

"Did you find everything?"

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah, let's head back."

Kayla began walking back towards the front of the store when footsteps caught her attention. She stopped and listened, hearing growls from the other side of the aisle. When she stopped so did the footsteps. Quietly as possibly she unsheathed her knife and got it ready as she walked towards the end of the aisle. As she walked out into the open, so did two walkers. She managed to stab the first one in the head, but they were too close together for her to get the other. The body of the walker she killed fell on her, causing her to fall back on the floor and drop her knife. The second walker climbed on top of the dead walker and tried to bite at Kayla.

"Daryl!" she called out in terror. She couldn't reach for her knife without the risk getting bit and the position she was in forbid her from getting leverage to push the two walkers off of her. "Daryl!" she called again.

Daryl was at the front of the store when he heard Kayla. "Daryl!" she called out. "Daryl!" Daryl took off in a sprint towards the sound of her voice, dodging the things in his path. "Kayla!" he yelled out. "Over here!" she yelled back, the sound of a struggle in her tone. Daryl went towards the direction of her voice and finally found her pinned down by the food section. He raised his crossbow and shot an arrow at the walker trying to get at her, hitting it right in the skull. It fell limp on her and Daryl rushed over to get the bodies off of her. He grabbed the one he killed by the back of its shirt and pulled it off of her while she pushed the second on off of her. He grabbed her hands and helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked, checking her over.

"Yeah." She panted. "Thanks…"

He gave her a nod and then walked out of the store with her.

The ride back to the farm was like the ride to the store, a comfortable quiet with Kayla's arms securely fastened around Daryl' torso which he found comfortable as well. The feeling of her arms around him gave him a warm feeling and he never had the fortune of having. He felt himself liking her a bit more everyday because she never pressed conversation or asked too many questions about him. She let him have his peace even if she was in his presence. He liked that about her. He liked a lot of thing about her. But the question was, did she feel the same about him?

Upon arrival back at the farm, Rick approached them asking how it went. "Fine." Kayla answered handing him her back pack. "Found everything on the list." He noticed the blood on her shirt but didn't say anything because she didn't have any injuries and they came back alive. Daryl handed him his bag, standing next to Kayla and giving Rick a look signaling everything was fine. Rick returned Daryl's look and took the supplies to the RV, leaving Daryl and Kayla alone. Kayla quickly turned on her feet and kissed Daryl' cheek. He turned towards her in surprise and caught the red in her cheeks. "That was for saving me." she told him.

"You gonna kiss me every time I save you?" he questioned.

"Maybe." She teased as she walked off.

**OOOOO**

Later that night after dinner, Kayla was reading a book on the roof of the RV as Dale kept watch. She liked Dale's company well as Daryl's because Dale is like the father she never got. "What do you think Rick is going to about Shane?" she asked a she turned a page. "I'm still surprised Hershel allowed him to stay here." Dale replied.

"Hershel likes Rick who puts up with Shane…" Kayla reminded him. "And Rick will do anything to keep order."

"I know…" Hershel said with a yawn. Kayla looked at him. "Why don't you go to sleep? I'll keep watch." she offered. "Alright." Dale agreed handing her the rifle as she dropped her book. "But tomorrow night you get to sleep." Kayla smiled and took position on the roof, looking out at the field.

About two hours passed that Kayla sat in the silence of herself when Daryl emerged from his tent. She looked at him in the light the fire casted and smiled. His hair was messy and he was dressed in a sleeveless flannel and ratty sweatpants. "What're you doing up?" she asked in a loud whisper. He looked up at her and let out a breath. "You can only be so comfortable on a cot for so long." He told her as he walked over to the RV and climbed up. He sat next to her and looked at her as she looked out at the open fields. Her face had traces of dirt on it and her eyes showed signs of tiredness.

A silence fell for a while which Daryl broke. "I'll take over." He said. "I have a few hours in me, you get some rest." Kayla looked at him and smiled, handing him the gun. "Thanks." She said as she stood up. She walked to the ladder and stopped. Turning around she looked at Daryl for a moment and then walked back to him. She put a hand on his shoulder and he turned his head, allowing Kayla to bend down and press her lips to his. Daryl tensed up and looked at in the few seconds she kissed him before he pulled away. "I wanted to that just in case I die tomorrow." Was all she said before getting off the RV and going to her tent.


End file.
